In the Mourning
by PencilofAwesomeness
Summary: After Wally's death, Dick visits the graveyard to say goodbye. Artemis has the same idea. ONESHOT Fluff and twist alert.


**Okay, so I already have a bigger story planned that basically replays the events of the last two episodes of season 2, but with more detail and action, and less death. However, I came up with this at lunch, and even though it's slightly depressing, I'm writing it anyways. There _is_ a twist though…(*smirk*) ONESHOT**

* * *

The dark haired teen took a few shaky breaths as he stared at the newly placed tombstone in front of him. He knelt in the dirt, and sat on his legs. His black jeans and gray shirt made him blend in with the shadows of the graveyard; he was still enough to be part of it. The nineteen-year-old's sorrowed filled blue eyes threatened to spill tears as he read the slab of stone.

Wally West  
1995 – 2016

The boy's tears were already on too many tombstones in this graveyard, and now they were about to fall on his best friend's grave. Dick clenched his fists and grinded his teeth, fighting the urge to lose his composure and sob.

He took a few more shaky breaths. "I-I'm so sorry, Wally," the dejected teen whispered to the wind. "I f-failed you. You w-weren't s-supposed to d-die; n-nobody was." Dick stared at the ground in silence before continuing.

"I just wish that I could've a-apologized in p-person. I was such a j-jerk, expecting y-you to watch Artemis leave like that." Dick laughed unsteadily. "To be honest, I th-thought you hated me. I-I felt like the second you kissed Artemis, our f-friendship bl-blew away. I d-didn't think about how much it would affect you for h-her to l-leave. And I was still so st-stupid. I didn't e-even r-realize that you w-were already d-dying. And to think I y-yelled at y-you the m-most for q-quiting."

A tear rolled down Dick's cheeks and splattered on the ground. He bit his lip, trying to stop himself, but the tears were pouring down too fast. He held his head in his hands, and cried.

Artemis stuffed his hands in her pockets, just after furiously wiping the bud of a tear out of her grey eyes. Her blond hair whipped across her face and the wind blew over the graveyard. She wanted to see her boyfriend's, her _love's_, grave one more time before she moved back to Gotham with her mother. If she had to stay in that empty house any longer she was going to go insane.

The blond perked her head up with she heard faint, yet heart-wrenching sobs, coming from the direction of Wally's grave marker_. Great_, she thought, _someone is around to see me cry_. Artemis was shocked, however, when she saw that the source of the crying was a boy hunched over _Wally's _tombstone.

The boy looked up, and Artemis recognized Dick Grayson, the perky millionaire play-boy of Gotham. She knew him from high school, and had introduced him to Wally. The two got along well, and he had been at the funeral, but it was a bit odd to see the nineteen year old boy sobbing this much over a mere friend. Not even Nightwing cried this much. Of course, he disappeared before anyone could talk to him about it.

* * *

Artemis walked up silently behind him, stopping a good ten feet away. He was muttering incoherent things in between sobs, she was pretty sure it was a different language. "I-It's all m-my f-fault," he managed out, in English this time. She was even more shocked. Why would he believe that?

Suddenly, his head shot up and he turned around to face Artemis. He furiously wiped the tears out of his sorrowed filled, baby blue eyes, and ran his hand nervously through his jet black hair. "Sorry, I'll leave you to your business," he mumbled. Dick turned to walk away, but Artemis grabbed him by the arm.

"How well did you know him?" she asked unexpectedly.

He met her gaze. She was taken back by how much pain filled his eyes, clouding them over. This boy had seen too much in his lifetime, and his quiet determination to hold back the tears reminded her of someone else: Nightwing.

Dick made no move to defend his identity; he didn't care anymore. In fact, Artemis deserved to figure it out. He held her gaze, just a few inches away, and towered over her slightly. He knew that Artemis had been on to him for a while now, ever since high school. All that was left was for the last pieces to click; he could already see the thoughts rolling around her mind.

"We were best friends," he whispered, "you already knew that, though."

Artemis couldn't help but gasp. "You _are_ him." Everything clicked. Dick Grayson was Nightwing, the fearless ex-leader of the team, defender of Bludhaven, and partner of the Bat. And he was here just like her, mourning the loss of his best friend.

Suddenly, Dick froze. Something was off. The wind whistled by his ears, but it didn't seem normal. There was a force in the air, he could feel it.

As if on cue, the air above Wally's tombstone shimmered like golden waves. Dick's well trained eyes spotted the figure within, and quickly grabbed it by the arm. He yanked the figure out and the shimmer started to fade. Much to his pure shock, Kid Flash was now in his arms.

Wally was shaking tremendously, like a non-stop shiver. His skin was ridiculously pale, and his breathing was rapid yet labored. Dick sucked in a sharp breath, and Artemis stretched her gray eyes wider than she thought possible. "Oh my god!" she gasped.

Dick's instincts kicked in and he laid his shuddering friend on the ground. He reached under his shirt and grabbed his belt. Dick pulled his gauntlet onto his head, and blue holographic screen floated above it. He punched a few keys and a then sheet of blue scanned Wally.

"His particles are over-charged," Dick declared, "We need to trash the extra energy, stat!"

Artemis laid a hand on his chest. She made no effort to stop the tear rolling down her cheek when she confirmed for herself that he was, indeed, _alive_. Of course, she felt his rapid heartbeat, and knew that he wouldn't be for much longer.

Dick bit his lip, his eyes darting nervously from the screen to his best friend. An idea, a crazy idea, came to mind. It was risky, but it could work. He reached into his belt, and threw the ice pellet down onto KF's chest. Ice immediately encased him, trapping him in the freezing block.

"What was that for?!" Artemis screamed.

"Relax, we just have to kill the energy," he explained quietly, not tearing his eyes of the holographic screen.

She was about to hit him, but then realized what he was doing. The freezing temperatures would slow down his hyper molecules.

Dick watched his vitals slow down, waiting for them to reach their appropriate speed. As soon as they were satisfactory, he pulled his fist back and shattered the glass-like ice.

Wally's chest slowed. Dick gathered the twenty-one year old in his arms, soothing the last of the restless movements. An emerald eye pried open. "D-Dick?" Wally whimpered.

"I'm here, Wally," Dick whispered back, a single tear of relief slowly down his cheek.

Artemis let out a harsh sob and buried herself in Wally's chest. She froze, pulled back, punched him hard in the gut, then continued to cry.

"What was that for?!" Wally gasped.

"I thought you were dead!" Artemis choked out.

"What happened?" Dick placed a hand on his best friend's shoulder. He didn't say anything, but his wet eyes pleaded forgiveness.

Wally nodded at his silent apology, not needing words to see the boiling emotions of his best friend. He felt bad for treating Dick so harshly. Sometimes Wally forgot the world was on this nineteen year old's shoulders; Dick tried his best to juggle the responsibilities of leading a team and saving the world.

"The energy poured into me, and I went faster and faster. It wouldn't let me stop running, and the world became a blur. I thought I would explode under the pressure soon. I have no idea how long I was running, but it felt like an eternity. There was something called the Speed Force; it was calling me, pulling me towards it. I tried to run, but I was running out of places to go. The more I pushed it back, the slower I went, until I could barely see the world. Then you pulled me out of orbit," Wally explained, stroking Artemis' hair while doing so.

Dick smiled, and it felt like the first time he truly smiled in ages. He tossed a small bird-a-rang into the tombstone. It quietly blew up, the stone scattering and littering the area. "It's great to have you back," he hugged Wally's shoulder, and Wally squeezed him back, ruffling his hair.

"You too, kiddo; I thought you were turning into Batman!" Wally exclaimed.

Dick laughed, followed by Wally and then Artemis. The trio fell into an awkward bear hug.

"So I'm not going to blow up, right?" Wally asked, making sure he checked.

"No, Wally, you're not going to blow up," Dick chuckled. "In fact, you're perfectly stable."

"You mean," Wally breathed, "That running won't tear me up molecule by molecule anymore?"

"You could run to Taiwan and back without breaking a sweat, just as fast as Barry could," Dick answered, a grin setting into his face.

Wally whooped, and proceeded to speed around Dick and Artemis. Artemis watched him for a while, before stretching her arm and stopping him.

"Whoa! What was that f-?" He was abruptly cut off as Artemis' lips met his. Dick smiled at the pair, and gave them another ten seconds or so before he tackled them in another bear hug.

They laughed, and fell to the ground in a heap. It was good to have Wally back. Without him, the sorrow and seriousness was so thick you could cut it with a knife.

"Man, am I hungry!"

Yeah, it was good to have Wally back.

* * *

**Okay, so there was my weird Drabbly-Oneshot. I just took an educated guess and said he was born in 1995; if I'm wrong, just tell me and I'll correct it. I don't know if any of you have watched the Justice League animated series, but I took the whole "speed force" thing from that. I don't know if I did it correctly though… Oh well! Tell me your thoughts in that little box at the bottom of your screen!**

**-SuperheroAddict**


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